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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238247">head in the clouds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianchiyo/pseuds/lesbianchiyo'>lesbianchiyo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Deaf Ren Au [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Deaf Mihashi Ren, Getting Together, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Misunderstandings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:13:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,330</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238247</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianchiyo/pseuds/lesbianchiyo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It started when Takaya forgot his umbrella.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Abe Takaya/Mihashi Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Deaf Ren Au [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875820</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>head in the clouds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>if you follow my fics you probably noticed my sudden going ghost. i'm not feeling well, mentally and physically so i haven't really felt like writing, which makes me feel even worse. </p><p>my stories have been :( lately, so if you could leave some nice comments i'd really appreciate it. i start school next week, so comments will be the difference of me continuing to write during the school year or disappearing until winter break.</p><p>and yes this is the last part to my deaf ren au, but if there's anything anyone wants to see with this au please let me know. i love this au, and i've gotten some nice feedback on it so if anyone wants anything (i have a couple ideas written down) please tell me either in the comments or leave something on my tumblr @oveath-shouyyou!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Practice was awkward, had been awkward for weeks now and Takaya didn't know what to do about it. </span>
</p><p><span>It was terrifying, watching Ren that evening had been terrifying, because Takaya was confused. He hadn't really thought about his feelings, he hadn't thought about if he liked Ren, well of course he liked Ren, but he didn't know if he </span><em><span>liked</span></em> <span>him. </span></p><p>
  <span>Ren was, Ren was nice, he was sweet and he was pretty— Takaya groaned running a hand through his hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That wasn't even the first time he had thought about him like that, and that's what terrified him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn't spoken to Ren in what felt like weeks, had been weeks and Ren hadn't looked at him...even during practice. But Takaya had looked at him, had watched him slink past him in the dugout, watched his frown as he talked to Tajima. Takaya had seen the tears, the frowns and he had felt the glares. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which pissed him off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't understand why Tajima was glaring at him, why it felt like the whole team was glaring at him. He hadn't even done anything </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't till Tajima had approached him after practice, cornered him near the bike rack did he figure out what he had done wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya had held the handlebars of his bike, fingers shaking as he struggled to keep eye contact, biting his lip to keep it from moving. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya wasn't a crybaby, he was just frustrated, irritated because he hadn't spoken to his pitcher in weeks, and he had fucked up the whole team and—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You made Ren cry." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tajima had been staring at him, his eyes big and void of anything but anger and Takaya had lost it, his fingers shaking and lip quivering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hiccuped, "I-I didn't mean to."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tajima's stance had faltered, his eyes growing soft as he looked up at him, "W-what?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya had lifted his hands to rub at his eyes, his bike clanging against the metal rack next to it, "I-I I'm j-just confused." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that was how he had spent thirty minutes standing in the middle of an empty parking lot sobbing while Tajima had tried his best to calm him down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking back on it all Takaya felt was embarrassment, it was hot against his skin as he remembered Tajima's surprised face. He hadn't meant to start crying, but he was frustrated and he missed Ren— which left Takaya even more confused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had never been good with making friends, nor keeping them, but Ren had felt different, like Takaya had a chance of keeping him close. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet it turned out the same as every other one of Takaya's failed friendships. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya sighed, leaning against the front door of the school. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rain was coming down in sheets, pounding down against the metal roof above him and creating puddles against the bottom step. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had cooled down, baseball season slowly coming to an end, something that was bittersweet. It left Takaya with excitement for next summer and disappointment at the end of a long memory filled season. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya probably wouldn't see Ren that often now. He didn't have the same class as him, baseball had been the only chance he got— unless Tajima forced the whole team to come to his soccer games, then maybe Takaya would get the chance to see him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But what was the point of that, it's not like Ren would talk to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door next to him opened, the heat of the school seeping out into the cool rain, and Takaya turned towards the opening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren's eyes were huge, big and watery and the brown sparkled with some new. Takaya felt a lump forming in his throat and he tried to swallow it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"T-Taka!" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren backed away towards the opening, the rain falling down smashing into his back, but he made no move to turn back into the cover. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uhh, hi." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya didn't think Ren caught what he said, before he was squeaking out a </span>
  <em>
    <span>'goodbye'</span>
  </em>
  <span> and ran out into the pouring rain, the umbrella in his hands forgotten as he rushed towards the front gates. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya successfully swallowed the lump in his throat on his second try, his plan of staying dry forgotten as he rushed out into the rain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was cold,the water seeping into his jacket and made his skin sticky. It ran down his face, pressed his hair down and burned his eyes, but he didn't stop moving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or it was like his body wouldn't let him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren was just ahead, and without thinking Takaya reached a hand out and pulled on the back of Ren's shirt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He barely heard the squeak of protest beneath the pounding rain as Ren turned to face him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes were red, his hair washed into his face and Takaya could already see the curls started to tangle. Some part of him wanted to reach up and brush the dripping bangs from his eyes, the urge made his fingers itch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"W-what?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya opened his mouth to speak, "I-" He didn't know what to say. "I-I'm sorry."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren seemed stunned, his eyes growing watery, but it was hard to tell whether it was rain or tears. Takaya felt the lump in his throat coming back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I-I Tajima… told me and I-" Takaya reached a hand out to pull the umbrella from Ren's hand, he held it up, "Can I?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren didn't move, Takaya didn't even know if he understood what he was saying, didn't know if Ren could even see his mouth through the rain. He opened the umbrella anyway, before urging Ren underneath it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was quiet, Takaya unsure if he should continue talking, Ren didn't seem like he wanted to talk— but he was looking at him, his eyes trained on Takaya's mouth, his stare unbreaking. It was unsettling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I-I I'm just confused." Takaya raised a hand up to rub the water from his eyes, the hand holding the umbrella shaking slightly, before falling still when Ren reached a hand up to hold it still. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I-I'm sorry." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya barely heard him, but when he did he froze, and then a wave of dread washed over him, his heart dropping down to his stomach. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, No, Ren—" Takaya worried his bottom lip, taking a deep breath, "Can I try… kissing you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren didn't answer right away, and Takaya could almost see the gears turning in his head, but when Takaya saw Ren's free hand sign out the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>kiss</span>
  </em>
  <span>, his finger brushing against his cheek did he nod. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"T-tajima said… we should try." Takaya glanced away, catching his breath, and when he turned to face Ren again the boy was already leaning in closing the space between them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The feeling was weird, a weird feeling that felt right. Ren's lips were wet, and they tasted like murky rain water, and the force Takaya had pressed back was rough and it was awkward and it had their teeth banging against each other, but even that felt right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya pulled away first, raising a shaky hand to press against his lips. Ren never stopped staring, but his cheeks were blooming with color while he nervously worried his bottom lip between his teeth. </span>
</p><p><span>"H-how do you…" Takaya took a deep breath, "How do you say </span><em><span>I</span></em> <em><span>love you </span></em><span>again?"</span></p><p>
  <span>Ren startled, the pink blooming down his neck as he lifted his right hand, </span>
  <em>
    <span>thumb, pointer finger and pinky. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Takaya swallowed the lump in his throat, confidence bubbling in his chest as he lifted a very shaky hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I love you."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren smiled, and Takaya didn't know a smile could be so perfect, so bright. His eyes were sparkling, and his cheeks were a pretty shade of pink, prettier than any makeup Takaya had seen and it made him feel off balanced, like someone had just knocked into him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And what Ren said next had Takaya tripping backwards rain pelting against the back of his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I love you too, Taka."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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